As of new firmware update (2.1.12) the 4 tuner Tablo is still unable to deinterlace video content (not film) on 1080i channels. Specifically this means video content on channels like KCBS, KNBC, KTLA, and KCAL are unwatchable at 1080i setting. I appreciate that one can set the Tablo to 720p however that shouldn’t really be the solution.
While I appreciate the massive effort being made to add new features to Tablo, shouldn’t getting basic 1080p output made a priority? Sorry to rant but there have been threads on this topic with little acknowledgement from Tablo Support that the issue exists here on the forum. To clarify the above issue, is anyone with a 4 tuner Tablo able to deinterlace 1080i channels showing video content with Tablo set at 1080p?
@7up, I have a four tuner. I’d be happy to test this, but I don’t really understand the problem. How do I know if a channel is broadcast in 1080i? Once I know that, I’m guessing I should record something on that channel, then see if I can play it back?
Let me know and I’ll give it a shot. I bought a 2TB hard drive because I planned to record in HD. I haven’t tried it yet because of the comments on this forum.
If you don’t know which channels in your area are broadcast in 1080i, open up a browser and go to http://my.tablotv.com/settings
Scroll down to active channels and toward the right it will show the resolution, 1080i, 720p, 480i, etc.
NBC, CBS, and CW are typically 1080i
Under “General” section of Tablo settings, set “Recording Quality” to 1080p.
Go watch a live broadcast on a 1080i channel with video (not film) content. Video content are things like sports, local news, soap opera etc. For whatever reason, 1080p deinterlacing artifact here is most problematic on NBC. Sporting events with Tablo@1080p are unwatchable.
@7UP I’'m sure Tablo support (as well as engineering, marketing…everyone) is fully well aware that the 4 tuner suffers this problem. I would be willing to bet that has a great deal to do with the fact that 720P is the default setting and has (preferred) written out to the right of it.
I nearly sent mine back after getting it, but decided to wait just a while to see if the problem cleared up or others found it and started talking about it–as many clearly are now and will surely continue to do so. Given that it doesn’t seem to be a problem with the 2 tuner model, I’m hoping that they can get it fixed via software very soon. If it turns out to be a hardware issue (not enough processing horsepower in that model), my hope is they will rev the hardware and offer all of us early adopters a no-cost swap, as that would be the right thing to do.
We are aware that the 4-Tuner seems to be experiencing an
issue with deinterlacing when set to 1080. We’re working with our silicon partner to identify the issue and will release a fix as soon as it’s avaialble.
In the meantime you can set your Tablo to 720 which we
recommend for the best combination of picture quality and bandwidth usage.
@7up. I set my record quality to 1080i and I’m watching NBC News. Occasionally, the image pixillates, but not often. We’re also having thunderstorms, so that may be contributing to the problem.
I thought this was a problem with watching recorded programs, so I’ll try that later.
UPDATE: I recorded another news program, on CBS. I’m watching it now and the only problem I see is it keeps “Loading, please wait.” I think that’s because I’m still on WiFi.
First problem: If I set Tablo to record 1080P the 1080i channels always fail. The nature of the failure is a playback stall every 10 seconds of varying length. The stalls always starts a stream clock reading ending in “9” (xx:x9). All of my channels show 5 green dots. The fellow I’m emailing with seems to think that isn’t enough. How many green dots should I have?
The second problem I’m having is terrible artifacting on 480i channels, very painful to watch.
Third problem: touching a skip or scrubber button and playback stops for at least 20 seconds.
Fourth problem: my Tablo feels very hot; so I measured it. I taped a thermometer to the bottom and it found it to be 30²F above ambient temperature. It must be a lot hotter inside. Is this normal? How long is this thing going to last? ______________ Winston Mitchell Boise, Idaho
@TabloTV - Any news on whether the problem is hardware vs. software? Your mention of a “silicon partner” gives me a little bit of pause. Should I return my 4-tuner unit for a cooler, less-problematic 2-tuner unit?
We’ve been testing this in the office for the last couple of weeks. We’re confident that we’ll be able to release a hotfix for this issue in the very short term (within a week or so is a safe guess). This fix will address the interlacing issue for smoother playback on 1080p. Details to come soon, stay tuned.
@PiX64@JimmyB7 There are some improvements in the most recent build - I think there are a few folks who may have already noticed. However, 2.1.14 doesn’t have all the improvements and the permanent fix we intend to make. More to come soon!
@PiX64 @JimmyB7 There are some improvements in the most recent build - I think there are a few folks who may have already noticed. However, 2.1.14 doesn't have all the improvements and the permanent fix we intend to make. More to come soon!
I seem to be getting 1080p nicely. All appears well for me now. I can’t wait to see something better. Thanks
@TabloTV I mentioned in another post last night that based on my tests the 4-Tuner is not recording at 30 frames a second. It is annoyingly noticeable during sports.
What frame rate should the 4-tuner be recording at?
Good to hear. My concern is around the FPS as it is streamed as this is where I notice that the Tablo is not keeping up with the 30 FPS.
I will also power off and on the Tablo as I switched from Wifi to Ethernet last week and want to make sure that are no left settings that may still be switched on.